


you're not here to get me through it all

by masc_devil



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angel is Alive, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Body Modification, Forced Play, Gangs, Jack is less of a dick, M/M, Minor Description of Torture, Oral Sex, Trans Male Character, i did the first term of a criminology degree but i know nothing, so this may not be accurate, trans!Rhys, violation of crime scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-22 12:01:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22915858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masc_devil/pseuds/masc_devil
Summary: Rhys is kidnapped, and tortured by a gang, having been sold off by a colleague. Is he still alive? Jack refuses to believe otherwise.
Relationships: Handsome Jack/Rhys (Borderlands)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 42





	1. Chapter 1

"Hey, Jack.. it's just me. I miss you."

"Me again, just calling to let you know I love you. Don't worry to call back, just wanted you to know."

"I wish you'd charge your phone more often. I miss your voice. I.. I miss you."

"Hey, things are getting weird. I wish I could talk to you.. you'd reassure me, wouldn't you? I'll be back soon, though. I hope you've stocked my favourite ice cream. I love you." 

Jack hadn't received any of the voicemails Rhys had left for him, his phone broken. Now Rhys was missing, presumed dead. The search had stopped, and the voicemails were replaying over and over again, Jack sobbing into Angel's arms. Rhys hadn't even met Angel yet, and it seemed he never would. They'd found Rhys' blood in the warehouse his phone had been tracked to, and his belongings still in the hotel he'd stayed in. Jack wished he'd gone with Rhys, or convinced him not to go - he should've wondered why Rhys hadn't messaged or called, he should've done  _ something _ .

Although the police stopped searching, Jack never did. He'd never accepted the fact that Rhys could be dead - there was no body. The person who had organised Rhys' kidnap from his company was arrested, and his phone was searched. There were photos that had been sent through from the gang, ones that Jack hoped he'd be able to erase from his mind. They were horrific, so much so that the police had warned him that it may be best for him not to look. But Jack needed to see what they'd done. Needed to know what pain they'd put his Rhys through. 

They'd cut off his arm, cauterised the wound. They'd taken pictures of Rhys screaming in pain, body bare with knife marks, words like 'slut' and 'whore' engraved into him. There were pictures of Rhys, passed out from the pain, being taken over and over again by these.. these fucking psychos - that's all Jack could think of them. And Jack wanted to track them down and kill them all. The arm was left in the warehouse, though it was decayed to hell. Jack was silently glad it wasn’t Rhys’ tattooed arm, considering how much Rhys loved it. 

A week or so later, the police had found one of the members of the gang that had kidnapped Rhys, arresting him (and preventing Jack from taking any revenge). The person said they’d left Rhys for dead in the warehouse - ‘ _ he’d stopped being fun after the first few nights _ ’ - and they had no idea where he’d gone. 

Jack wasn’t sure if that was good or bad news. Surely if Rhys was dead, then his body would still be there. But with no arm, and in serious pain, how could he have gone far? Jack went back to the warehouse, hoping to find anything - preferably Rhys, but just any sign of where he’d gone. He’d asked around the neighbourhood, giving the number of his new  _ working _ phone to a couple, both offering to help him look. He found he liked Athena more than Janey - she was serious and quiet, while Janey was talkative and tried to find humour in things, probably to hide how troubling the situation really was. Angel tended to talk to her more than Jack did, but both were nice. Athena remembered hearing something weird outside, but she hadn't investigated it - they were used to weird things in this neighbourhood, which did nothing to ease Jack's worries. 

They reached the house at the end of the road, but just before Jack could go up to knock on the door, Janey stopped him. 

"Maybe.. let's skip this house, yeah?" She suggested, trying to tug him along, sighing when Jack refused to judge and instead gave her a questioning look. "It's just.. the guy that lives here is a little.." She hesitated, thinking of what to say. 

"Fucking creepy." Athena finished, her arms crossed over her chest. 

"You think he could've taken my Rhysie?" Jack asked, gearing up to fight, the picture of Rhys in his hand almost getting crumpled before he stopped himself. Janey and Athena didn't respond, making Jack all the more suspicious of this guy. He walked up the path to the door, taking a moment to lightly kick a daisy, just out of spite. He knocked and waited, listening closely, just in case he could hear anything. 

The man who opened the door was younger than Jack had expected, the slightest stubble above his lip as if he couldn't actually grow any proper facial hair. Looked like a spoiled rich kid, and the pompous expression he wore made Jack all the more sure that he was. 

"Can I help you?" God, the tone of his voice made Jack want to punch him in the face, but he held back, instead shoving the photo of Rhys in the kid's face. 

"Have you seen my boyfriend? He went missing 23 days ago."  _ Yes _ , Jack had been counting every day and hour since he'd last seen Rhys. He needed to, to keep himself sane. He would get Rhys back, and then he could stop counting. 

"No. Is that all? I was busy with.. training a dog." The response made Jack suspicious, and he squinted, but tried to school himself into more of a friendly stance.

"I love dogs, maybe I could help. There's a trick to teaching them." He tried to push himself in, the kid attempting to stop him, but he didn't have any chance. Not when Jack felt like he was so, so close to finding his Rhys. The second Jack set foot in the living room, the kid tried to sprint out of the house, but Athena caught him, pinning him to the ground, leaving Jack to explore the house. There was someone in the living room, dressed up as a dog, who looked terrified out of their mind. But it wasn't Rhys. They screamed at Jack, begging for help, and Jack being the hero he was, did. He removed the bone gag they'd been forced into, untied their legs, and helped them up onto the sofa.

Janey and Angel came in, Janey offering support to the victim and phoning the police. Angel took the photo of Rhys off of her dad, showing it to them. The victim, whose name was Maya, claimed that Katagawa had taken her when she was roaming the town, alone in the rain. She was vulnerable and needed help, but she hadn't seen Rhys. She hadn't seen anyone else, but swore she heard people other than Katagawa. The police came and took her to the station to give a statement, after arresting Katagawa for kidnap and assault. Jack wanted to look around the house some more, but the police marked it off as an official crime scene that could not be tampered with, no matter how much Jack yelled or threatened or cursed at them. They promised they'd search the house thoroughly, but that meant nothing to Jack.  _ He _ needed to search.  _ He  _ needed to find Rhys. 

When night came, he left Angel with Janey and Athena, and called up his twin, Timothy. Tim came almost instantly, breaking probably too many speeding limits to get there, parking up outside of Athena's home, and running to Jack's side. Anything Jack needed to get Rhys back, he'd do. Tim had bonded with Rhys, and the man had helped everyone mesh together. Jack had been a better dad, a better brother since meeting Rhys. And Rhys was interesting! He talked to Tim about video games, and the indie bands he loved, as well as cats. He encouraged Tim to get a cat, even went with him to pick one up from a shelter. So when Jack said they were breaking into a crime scene, Tim was all on board. 


	2. Chapter 2

The plan was simple. They would wait for the police to change shifts, and use that brief time to sneak in. If that failed, Tim would fake fainting in front of the police as a distraction. They weren't expecting police to not even be there.  _ 'Why aren't they doing their job?' _ Jack thought bitterly, but took advantage of how easy it was to slip under the roll of tape, and into Katagawa's house - apart from it was locked. 

"You got a hair pin or something?" 

"Do I look like I'd carry a hair pin, Jack? Really?" Jack just shrugged, not really wanting to know what Tim carried on him. Particularly considering he had Jack's best friend as a boyfriend, and.. Jack didn't even want to consider his brother's  _ private _ life. Instead, he focused on how the fuck they were going to get into Katagawa's house. 

"You know how to lockpick?"

"Jack, I hardly know how to shoot a fucking gun!"

"Well then how do you suggest we get in, dear brother?"

"I don't know! A window or something?" 

"Ah, just alert more attention to us. Perfect idea Timmy. You know what, why don't you become CEO, with all these wonderful ideas?"

"Here." Athena had followed them, and was now interrupting their bickering, instead unlocking the door - Jack thought it looked more like just punching it, but he didn't want to comment, especially after the door did in fact open. Athena decided to wait outside and stand guard, while Tim and Jack ventured in. They decided to check for any basement first, which there was, and Tim.. God, Tim was not expecting to see a literal sex dungeon. He had to excuse himself, not wanting to see the toys still wet with lube -  _ oh god, what if Katagawa had used them?  _ He almost vomited at the thought. Jack came out a few moments later, clutching Rhys' - well, his - shirt. 

"He had him. He had my Rhys, and.. he's gotta. He's got to still be here. He can't have - no. No. Search everywhere.  **_Don't leave a single spot unsearched._ ** " He ordered, and Tim jumped right to it, as Jack rushed upstairs, kicking the doors open. One, by one. Each just led to a stupidly normal room - a bathroom, a spare bedroom, a study, even a fucking library. None of them had Rhys inside, unless there was some secret room inside the library. But after throwing all the books off of the shelves, it seemed there was nothing. And Jack thought that'd just be far too cliche, some Scooby Doo level shit or something. 

There was one last door, and no matter how much Jack kicked, it would not open. When he jiggled with the handle, it was evidently locked, but he decided there must be something worth hiding in there. Just as he was about to barge it, he heard a scream from downstairs, making him fumble and just hit the door, not succeeding in anything other than almost breaking his shoulder. 

"Tim?" He yelled out, wincing slightly as he rolled his shoulders, hoping to ease the pain slightly - he hadn't dislocated it, luckily, but it still hurt like a bitch. When he received no answer, he groaned, wondering what the fuck his twin had gotten himself into, grumbling to himself that it better not just be a spider. 

He did not expect to see Rhys holding a knife to Tim's throat with his only arm, looking incredibly feral. If Tim wasn't in danger of having his throat slit, then Jack may have thought he looked hot while feral. But he was mostly just relieved to see his boyfriend alive. 

"Rhysie.." Jack breathed out, stepping forward. His boyfriend growled, pressing the knife closer into Tim's neck, and Jack stopped his movements in panic. "Rhysie, Rhys. Baby. It's me, it's Jack." He tried, keeping his voice calm and loving.

"He'll kill you. He'll kill you, he knows. He knows that I cried for your name. He knows. He'll kill you, and you're not even real, but he'll find a way. They all will." Rhys growled out, before Tim suddenly grabbed Rhys' hand, pulling it away from his neck and ducking away, rushing to Jack's side. It wasn't hard given how weak Rhys was and looked, as well as the fact he only had one arm. 

"Fuck, Jack.. something's wrong with him." Tim said, quiet enough that Rhys couldn't hear it, but he snarled at Tim anyway.

"I know that. I know, but.." 

"He needs to go to the hospital." 

"I freakin'  **_know_ ** , Timmy!" Jack yelled, making Rhys cower and drop the knife, looking at Jack with those big, pitiful eyes. Like he expected Jack to hurt him. 

"We'll take him to the hospital in my car. Say we saw him come out of Katagawa's house." Athena spoke from behind them, making Tim jump and curse. 

"I'm not leaving him." Jack growled, eyes not leaving Rhys for fear that he'd just disappear again. He still had his shirt in his hand, and noticed that Rhys had.. well, no clothes on - why didn't he notice that sooner? He could see all the marks from the gang, the words marked onto his stomach.. and more bruises that weren't on the photos he saw. Must've been from Katagawa. He stepped closer to Rhys, approaching him like he was a scared animal, hands up to show he wasn't a threat. 

"Here, pumpkin. Let me just put this on you, we'll get you all better, yeah? I'm here now. I'm here." Jack soothed, helping Rhys get his arm into the shirt, buttoning it up for him, before pulling him in gently for a hug. He couldn't help himself, he needed it.

And when Rhys pressed closer and started sobbing, it seemed he needed it too. 

On the way to the hospital, Athena had updated Janey on the situation, and received two very pleased and happy responses. Angel said she couldn't wait to meet Rhys once he was better, and Janey repeated that sentiment. It was awkwardly silent, apart from Rhys' crying, but he soon passed out from exhaustion, leaving Jack to his thoughts. Yes, Rhys was alive, but he'd clearly been damaged both physically and mentally. What if he never recovered? He'd cried out for Jack.. and Jack hadn't been there. He should've been there. 

"We're here, Jack." Tim's soft voice interrupted his thoughts, and Jack nodded, getting out of the car and moving to Rhys' side. With Athena's help, he managed to carry him bridal style into the hospital, until Tim found him a wheelchair. Rhys slept right through it all as he was wheeled into a cubicle, and shifted onto a hospital bed. He slept through the needles being stuck into his arm and body. 

He woke up when Jack was told to leave, when Jack was screaming at the nurses. 

"Don't go! Don't leave me again - you, you can't.. I knew you weren't real.." His voice sounded so broken, so hurt, that Jack was motivated to tell a white lie. 

"He's my fiancé! Don't - you can't take me away from him again." The nurses gave up, letting Jack return to Rhys' side, where he cuddled him close around the tubes wiring out of his body. They stayed like that for as long as they could, both crying. Rhys was still insisting that Jack wasn't real, the nurses unsure of how exactly to cure that. They knew it was Rhys' trauma, and so they let Jack stay, even after visiting hours, so Rhys could believe that Jack was real, he was there, yes the nurses could see him too. 

Rhys had to stay in hospital for a few weeks, recovering. Jack hardly left his side, only when he had to - during surgery, and when Jack stunk so bad even Rhys told him to go home. Jack was relieved to see bits of the old Rhys return, like how he rolled his eyes at dumb jokes, the way he preened at the petnames Jack gave him. The way his cheeks blushed at a crude joke, or bad pick up line. 

One night, Rhys was laid there, almost asleep but staring at Jack with half lidded eyes, a dopey smile on his face. He was listening to Jack talk, his hand under the sheet, a bunch of Jack's shirts bundled up on his shoulders like a pillow. His face was pressed into one that smelled particularly strongly of Jack, musky and most importantly,  _ safe _ . At first, Jack just thought he was sleepy, but when he heard a quiet whimper, he stopped, rushing to Rhys' side to check for any damage only to notice that the sheet was moving. Rhys was jerking off, in the hospital, without Jack's help. That was just a crime in his eyes. 

Staring at Rhys, he moved the sheet to the side, seeing the hospital gown rucked up around his hips, Rhys' index and middle finger stroking around his dick, using the wetness from his cunt to make the slide better. Jack had a shark-like grin as he lowered himself down until he was level with Rhys' crotch, using his thumbs to spread Rhys' mounds, revealing that pretty little hole that he'd missed. 

"So beautiful, aren't you, cupcake? Missed you so much. Missed this so much." Rhys' hips twitched as he whimpered softly again, his fingers still playing with his dick until Jack gently pried his hand away. Rhys was about to complain about the loss, but before he knew it, Jack licked a hot stripe right over his hole, tongue curling up to play with his dick, making him gasp. Jack had always known how to play him just right, his tongue able to do tricks that made Rhys' thighs shake. He was going gentle considering how injured Rhys was, and the fact that they were in the hospital, but that didn't mean he lacked enthusiasm. His tongue focused on the little nub, while two fingers eased into Rhys' hole, stretching and scissoring him apart. 

"Please.. please Jack.." He whispered, not wanting to alert any of the nurses to what was happening, hoping the slick sounds of Jack toying with him weren't as loud as they sounded to him. Jack pressed his fingers deeper, curling them up inside of Rhys, until they hit that spot that made Rhys' body jerk, mouthing at Rhys' dick. It was too much for the boy, after so long of just having pain inflicted upon him, that he cried when he came. Jack pulled his fingers out, wiping them on the sheet, before rushing up to kiss Rhys. His hands came up to cup Rhys' cheeks, as he kept his kisses soft, but loving. Pulling away, he wiped Rhys' tears away, pressing their foreheads together. 

"I love you." 

"I love you too." Rhys whispered, before pressing another kiss against Jack's lips. 

Jack knew it would all be okay. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed!!! A happy little ending. 
> 
> I'm tempted to write an epilogue from Rhys' POV, lemme know if you'd want to read that!!  
> ❤️❤️  
> Thanks for any comments and kudos. Come talk to me on twitter: @mascdevil

**Author's Note:**

> :0
> 
> I don't write angst a lot, so I hope this is okay! What has happened to Rhys? Is he still alive? Did Katagawa actually have him? 
> 
> come talk to me on twitter! @mascdevil


End file.
